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Who Was the Most Religious President of All Time? (They called him "The Deacon")
Slate ^ | 09/27/2012 | Forrest Wickman

Posted on 09/27/2012 5:28:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

If elected, Mitt Romney “would arguably be the most actively religious President in American history,” according to a profile in the latest New Yorker. Who’s been our most religious president?

Jimmy Carter, probably. It’s impossible to know the contents of a man’s heart, but historians who study the religious lives of the presidents point again and again to the words and deeds of James Earl Carter Jr. The Georgia Baptist set a new standard during his 1976 presidential campaign when he described himself as “born again,” and he was frank about his religious beliefs throughout his presidency.

While in office, Carter attended church wherever he went, even while on the road, and continued to teach Sunday school when at home. He prayed daily and read the Bible, and when he wasn’t reading the Bible he read theologians like Reinhold Niebuhr. Like Romney, he also knocked on doors as a missionary, addressing potential converts by saying, “I’m Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer. Do you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior?” Since his presidency he has continued his Christian mission on annual trips for Habitat for Humanity, and when he accepted the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, he spoke of Jesus Christ as “the Prince of Peace.” His Secret Service codename was “The Deacon.”

Prior to Jimmy Carter, the most God-fearing U.S. president may have been James Garfield. Garfield is the only president who was actually a clergyman. At a young age Garfield became a minister for the Disciples of Christ, where he was lauded for his skill as a preacher, and he learned Greek—the original language of the New Testament. Though it was not his full-time job, he continued to preach and minister for years until his presidency.

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: jimmycarter; president; religious
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1 posted on 09/27/2012 5:28:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

MEMORABLE JAMES GARFIELD QUOTE:

“I resign the highest office in the land to become President of the United States.”

(He went to his reward six months later courtesy of a religious zealot).

See here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=KLglkgCEEB4C&pg=PA155#v=onepage&q&f=false


2 posted on 09/27/2012 5:30:17 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (bOTRT)
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To: SeekAndFind

He can go to church all he wants but his communist deeds and actions and support for dictatorships should earn him the code name “Grand Poobah of the A-hole and Traitor Club”.


3 posted on 09/27/2012 5:32:56 AM PDT by albie
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To: SeekAndFind

ONE OTHER NOTABLE RELIGIOUS PRESIDENT:

John Quincy Adams worshiped at three different churches (Unitarian, Presbyterian, and Episcopal) and would attend service even in heavy snow. He was also vice president of the American Bible Society and wrote religious poetry.

THE LEAST RELIGIOUS:

* James Monroe. Attended church infrequently

* Ulysses Grant seems to have refused to ever profess his faith, even when a bishop of his wife’s Methodist denomination pressed him on his deathbed.


4 posted on 09/27/2012 5:33:13 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (bOTRT)
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To: SeekAndFind
Liberalism and true Christianity are incompatible. Abortion, gay marriage, etc..are the tenets of the liberals theology, so the ex-president is an apostate as well as being a miserable failure.
5 posted on 09/27/2012 5:36:27 AM PDT by loveitor.. ("I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours..." Ronald Reagan)
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To: SeekAndFind
this bs about Carter shows me exactly why Christianity has suffered so greatly....

people who have to tell eveyone that they are "Christian", aren't....

the more some of these tv evangelists use the name "Jesus" in a sentence, the more I figure they are shallow shysters....

6 posted on 09/27/2012 5:39:41 AM PDT by cherry
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To: SeekAndFind

I believe the “highest office” he was referring to as leaving was an elder in his church.

I don’t doubt Carter’s sincerity as a Christian, but I don’t think he had anything on Garfield.


7 posted on 09/27/2012 5:51:13 AM PDT by SharpRightTurn ( White, black, and red all over--America's affirmative action, metrosexual president.)
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To: loveitor..

I couldn’t agree with you more.I’m so tired of liberals invoke the words of Jesus to promote their Marxist redistribution agenda and paint conservatives as cruel and selfish. Meanwhile, they support abortion and deviate lifestyles. My response to them always is,”Ok, if the words of Jesus are the standard, what about John 14:6, where Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me.” That offends their political correctness and often shuts them up. I also encourage them to read l Thessalonians 3:10, which states that those who will not work should not eat.


8 posted on 09/27/2012 5:57:37 AM PDT by Freestate316 (Know what you believe and why you believe it.)
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To: cherry
people who have to tell everyone that they are "Christian", aren't....

Exactly.

The same thing applies to wartime military service, too.

The people who did the most, talk the least about it.

9 posted on 09/27/2012 5:59:24 AM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Cousin Ike described himself as ‘the most religious person I know’. Religious roots from Mennonite sect. Ancestors were persecuted/imprisoned in Switzerland 17th century.


10 posted on 09/27/2012 6:00:13 AM PDT by griswold3 (Big Government does not tolerate rivals.)
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To: SharpRightTurn
I don’t doubt Carter’s sincerity as a Christian,

I do. Retired secret service agents who saw the various presidents up close and personal said Carter was a huge pious fraud. Whereas Reagan was one of the most righteous when no one was looking.

11 posted on 09/27/2012 6:01:50 AM PDT by MrDem (Founder: Democrats for Cheney/Palin 2012)
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To: griswold3

RE: Cousin Ike described himself as ‘the most religious person I know’. Religious roots from Mennonite sect.

A Mennonite General who fought World War II, and one of the bloodiest invasions in history — NORMANDY !!

Who woulda thunk!


12 posted on 09/27/2012 6:03:21 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (bOTRT)
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To: SeekAndFind

His mother, Ida, was staunchly religious.

The religion of Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. President
www.adherents.com/people/pe/Dwight_Eisenhower.html
Eisenhower’s family background was Mennonite (River Brethren), and he was raised in an intensely religious home environment.


13 posted on 09/27/2012 6:07:01 AM PDT by griswold3 (Big Government does not tolerate rivals.)
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To: griswold3

If I remember correctly, Ike also read the entire bible every year.


14 posted on 09/27/2012 6:12:25 AM PDT by Abby4116
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To: Abby4116

See Post #13 about President Eisenhowers’ religious affiliations.


15 posted on 09/27/2012 6:14:42 AM PDT by griswold3 (Big Government does not tolerate rivals.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Yeah, the light really shines in Carter’s nasty, bitter face. /s


16 posted on 09/27/2012 6:21:17 AM PDT by Montanabound
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To: albie

The Christian Jimmy Carter was a fraud.

He facilitated the overthrow of the Shah of Iran to usher in an Islamic Republic. Is that the move of a Christian?

When the Shah had cancer and needed a place to be treated, the self-professed Christian Carter, refused to allow him to enter the United States. Is that the move of a Christian?

North Korea has nuclear weapons today, because Jimmy Carter interceded on it’s behalf. Is that the act of a Christian?

The list is long of what this self-professed Christian did that was the farthest thing from what a Christian would do.

Carter’s moves made Iran look unstable. Saddam Hussein seeing it in that state attacked. Half a million Iranians, and half a million Iraqis died in that war.

Yep, good old Jimmy Carter is a real humanitarian.

Oh wait, he pounded 257 nails for Habitat for Humanity, and will never let us forget it. I stand corrected... Like hell I do.

It turns my stomach when I see this guy described in glowing terms on any level.


17 posted on 09/27/2012 6:34:36 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (Imagine how bad these global protests would be, if Obama hadn't won us s o many new friends.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Calvin Coolidge gets my vote as the most religious American President.


18 posted on 09/27/2012 6:35:24 AM PDT by TheConservativeBanker
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To: SeekAndFind

Ike became a born again Christian and was baptized after being elected president.


19 posted on 09/27/2012 6:41:42 AM PDT by Coldwater Creek (He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadows of the Almighty Psalm 91:)
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To: Izzy Dunne

That is so true.My ex brother in law was Green Beret in Vietnam in 69. I know he saw heavy combat. In the thousands of hours I spent around him, I heard the word Vietnam come out of his mouth maybe twice. Contrast that to John Kerry, who mentioned Vietnam constantly, but was a traitor. I ran into an old man walking with a cane in the supermarket. He had on a WW ll veterans cap. I shook his hand and thanked him for his service. He didn’t say much, except that he had fought in the Pacific and was wounded. As he spoke his eyes filled with tears, and he said, “I fought like hell for this country because I love it!” I walked away wiping a few tears of my own.


20 posted on 09/27/2012 6:49:08 AM PDT by Freestate316 (Know what you believe and why you believe it.)
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